Calm down, love! It’s just a bit of fun. All in good humour. And so forth.

Guests on (some) local TV shows face a tricky choice. They get railroaded into stunts they really don’t want to do. Or they commit the unpardonable crime of being up themselves.

Either way, the show is the winner. They get a “funny” segment – or media attention about a celebrity dummy spit.

The thing is, actor Kristin Davis was happy to talk about her Sex and the City days on Seven’s Sunrise. Having spoken of her refugee advocacy work with the UNHCR, she had a friendly chat with co-host Samantha Armytage about her time on the HBO series.

She gets the deal. She knows it’s commercial television. She’ll talk about Charlotte for a bit if her refugee work gets a fair run.

What Davis objected to was the expectation she’d do whatever they sprung on her, live on air. Like chortling along at a scene in which she has explosive diarrhoea. Or participating in a cringe-worthy sketch with terrible wigs.

Davis had been a good sport. She bantered with Armytage and co-host David Koch. She even endured jokes about how they had to get the refugee stuff over with so they could finally “get on to Sex and the City!” Just because she drew the line at poo jokes and awful skits, it doesn’t make her a princess.

By the way, why was Kochie allowed to sit that skit out? If everyone on Sunrise is a SATC tragic, as they claim, they’d have noticed the uncanny resemblance between him and Stanford Blatch, the gay talent agent and honorary “fifth lady” of the hit show. Kochie didn’t even need a wig. He could have leapt right in and reminisced with Carrie about that time she pretended to be his girlfriend, only for his grandmother to tell an “unsuspecting” Carrie, “You know, he is a fruit?”.

But of course, Kochie was over the other side, raising his eyebrows at the whole spectacle.

At least there was some sympathy for Davis.

Not so for poor Melissa George, who got slammed after her alleged “hissy fit” on Seven’s The Morning Show in 2012.

Speaking to Fairfax Media two years after the incident, George claimed she overheard someone talking about her before she went on air. She said the person intended not to ask about her new projects, Hunted or The Slap, and instead “have the Aussie bitch promote Home and Away”. Seven strongly denies this accusation.

“I don’t need credibility from my country any more,” George said afterwards. “I need them all to be quiet.”

Not the most diplomatic choice of words. But her frustration is understandable.

There’s a peculiar line of questioning favoured by certain Australian TV and radio hosts. They get a celebrity on their show, then hector them about their earliest B-grade roles, embarrassing haircuts and how much they adore this country.

Look Nicole, here’s you with frizzy hair on BMX Bandits! Kylie, watch this video of you talking like a bogan on Neighbours! Melissa, tell us again why Angel from Home and Away has a special place in your heart, even though she doesn’t! All of you, explain at length how Austraya is the best country in the world. Or At least give us a grab that’ll fit with the voiceover we’ve already recorded: “She’s made it in America, but she’ll always be the girl from the Aussie suburbs.” Aw老站出售

Again, the guest must laugh along with it all or be seen as “too big for their boots”.

This is what happened to George. “I never saw her in anything after Home and Away” some scoffed on social media, even though she’s had a strong career. “Who?” others asked. (Why are world leaders not using their powers to punish the numpties who post “Who?” underneath articles?)

This is not a plea for special treatment of celebrities. They can look after themselves.

It is to recognise the line between fun and embarrassment. Between laughing with people and that weird, narcissistic impulse to be the one who makes a big star cringe.

The maxim “all publicity is good publicity” is moronic. Just ask those whose lives have been upended by a Twitter hate storm or a tabloid pack hunt.

If Virginia Trioli or Michael Rowland tried these stunts on ABC News Breakfast, they’d lose viewers. But Sunrise is a different beast. It’ll weather the criticism and probably benefit from the coverage. It’s day six of this saga, for crying out loud. And here I am, encouraging them with another article. I know, I know.

Which means sooner rather than later, another hapless Sunrise guest will be ambushed by a host in an awful hairpiece. I just hope that this time, it’s Kochie underneath the wig.